Praise the Orc! Chapter 14:
Chapter 14 – About Life (1)
Ian spent several days at Thompson’s home . Derek’s men kept threatening them, so Hoyt and Ian took turns protecting the house .
Meanwhile, Ian was trained by Hoyt .
In Elder Lord, skills were divided into various ratings . Common grade meant one was around the ordinary level, while Uncommon was better even better than that . After Uncommon was Special, and then after that was the Rare rank . Following Rare, the current highest known rank, was Essence . It meant literally realizing the essence of the skill .
Among the famous rankers of Elder Lord, Choi Hansung’s skill, ‘Battlefield Penetrating Eyes’, was revealed to be at the Essence grade .
Most of the user’s skills were Common, Uncommon, or the occasional Special grade skills . Elder Lord resembled reality . Everyone’s abilities were different, and it wasn’t easy for a user to reach a level beyond Special . Therefore, most of them were enthusiastic about gathering as many skills as possible .
“Do you believe in your abilities?”
“I believe in them to a certain extent . ”
Ian replied .
He learned martial arts . In other words, he was unusually strong . Of course, he trained hard, but it wasn’t like his colleagues didn’t work hard either . Ian knew that he had a talent for violence . Talented people would feel like they were talented .
Hoyt nodded .
“Certainly, you have talent . However, keep in mind that talent isn’t the only thing needed to become strong . ”
“Are you talking about effort?”
“I think that the word effort is too light . ”
He laughed .
“Obsession . ”
“……”
“We can be anything . ”
He didn’t want to, but he acknowledged it . It wasn’t strange to call it a type of power .
Ian had lived in poverty, and his parents’ business hadn’t been good in his childhood . After his parents died, he inherited their debt and headed to the battlefield to make money . It was a harsh life that he could never boast about to anyone else .
He killed and killed again . It was all for the sake of money . The targets weren’t always evil .
Therefore, if he acknowledged Hoyt, he would have to blame himself for choosing life on the battlefield without trying any other ways . Indeed, such guilt tormented his heart .
Ian continued, “Not everyone can do that . ”
“Everyone…”
Hoyt smiled and aimed his hammer at Ian .
“I am not talking to everyone right now . ”
“Then…”
“I am talking to you right now . ”
Ian looked at him . Hoyt’s body, full of battle scars and tattoos, was proof of his experience over the past years .
“Are you a common person?”
“I…”
“Do you want to be a warrior?”
“I want to be one . ”
“Everyone… If you are like everyone else, then you can’t be a warrior . A warrior has to go on a path that no one else has traveled before . ”
Hoyt moved back and raised the hammer with both of his hands .
“Look closely . ”
Hoyt took a deep breath . Ian flinched . The atmosphere seemed to be shaking, and he could feel something coming from Hoyt’s body .
Strength, it wasn’t the same as energy . Rather, it was the opposite . As a result, Hoyt’s presence became blurred . He was becoming a part of this world . Then again, he became separate from the world .
Hoyt moved his hammer . It was a slow motion . However, Ian witnessed the world moving in reverse . The world broke with the simple movements of the hammer .
Ian wanted to sit down, as he couldn’t believe his eyes . This, this was the pinnacle state that Baek Hanho said Ian was unlikely to reach in his lifetime . This was the domain of the ancient military arts .
It was short, but seemed to last for an eternity . Hoyt raised his hammer and restored his breathing . He looked at Ian and smiled .
“Did you see?”
“Ah…”
“I was hoping so, but you really are amazing to see it . ”
“This…”
Hoyt put down his hammer . Sweat rolled down his face .
“When I was your age, there was a really talented orc . I was stupid compared to him . Something that he took one try to learn would take me 20 or 30 attempts . ”
“Hoyt… . ?”
“That’s right . He really was a genius . He would make an instant judgment and rush at the opponent with marvelous skill . He had a brilliant wit that I could never reach in my lifetime . So, I desperately asked the instructor . What could I do to become stronger?”
Hoyt raised the hand at his waist . Ian handed him a towel .
“The instructor showed me a number of ways to wield the weapon . And that was enough . I didn’t need to know anything else, he said . ”
It was the early stages of the pinnacle .
“I believed him and repeated his actions like crazy . People laughed at me like it was ridiculous, but I didn’t give up . I worked constantly without compromise . 10,000 times, 100,000 times, and more . Then at some point, I became a warrior . ”
Ian looked at his sword . He could do the same .
“You definitely have talent,” Hoyt said .
“Yes . ”
“That is why I am saying this . ”
“Yes…”
“Go towards the pinnacle, and beyond me . ”
Ian’s martial arts were stagnant . It had undergone further development on the battlefield, but was blocked again by a wall . He couldn’t go beyond that . Ian inwardly acknowledged his limits . But today, he saw beyond it . It was inside a game .
[Congratulations! You have witnessed a Pinnacle grade skill . ]
[You feel thrilled by the high level of martial arts and the reality of the Pinnacle grade skill!]
[A Pinnacle grade skill is only achieved by the real powerhouses in the world of Elder Lord . ]
[The title ‘Person Pursuing the Pinnacle’ has been acquired . All skills will gain proficiency until they reach the Pinnacle grade . ]
[You have acquired the Mind’s Eye (Special) skill that allows you to understand the reality of the target . ]
[50 achievement points have been acquired . ]
[Your level has risen . ]
[Status Window]
‘Person Pursuing the Pinnacle’ Ian, Orc Apprentice Warrior
Level: 7
Achievement Points: 380
Assimilation: 57%
Abilities:
Orc’s Superhuman Strength (Uncommon)
Orc’s Vitality (Uncommon)
Orc’s Greatsword Technique (Uncommon)
Warrior’s Fighting Spirit (Uncommon)
Mind’s Eye (Special)
The messages popped up, but Ian shook his head . Those things didn’t matter right now .
His heart pounded . He wanted to swing his sword . He wanted to move his body . Not just in the game, but in reality as well . Ian still couldn’t believe that he saw it .
“It’s hard since it’s the first time I’ve done it in quite a while . ”
“It is really wonderful . ”
“You are even more amazing . You don’t seem like an apprentice, since even some of the best warriors would only see a common swing . ”
Hoyt looked at the sun . He had the ability to calculate the approximate time according to the location of the sun, a skill that Ian didn’t have .
“It’s time for Ray to finish . ”
Ian said, “I’ll go . ”
“Please . ”
Ian started moving .
Ray, the oldest of Thompson’s children, was attending school . It wasn’t a regular training curriculum provided by the government like in Ian’s reality, but a private institute run by various intellectual scholars . Thompson believed that his children should be in school, regardless of his economic situation . It was an educational facility that the guards of Anail protected, so Derek couldn’t reach it with his hands .
Ian headed towards the school . It had been a few days, so the people of Anail were used to seeing orcs . Some people of different species greeted Ian .
“Uh, aren’t you selling vegetables now?”
“It was a part-time job . ”
“Too bad . ”
“Stella is still selling fresh vegetables . ”
“I can’t trust that girl . ”
“Kulkulkul . ”
The reputation system! Reputation existed in Elder Lord . Ian became known in Anail through positive activities, such as selling vegetables and protecting the Thompson family from the vicious loan shark . The attitudes of the NPCs changed from what they were before . They didn’t discriminate against orcs any longer . .
Ian entered Ray’s school with light footsteps . However, the atmosphere was weird . The children were forming a circle around something . This was the scene of a typical kid’s fight . There was a familiar face inside .
Ray .
Ian watched closely without interrupting . Ray and another child were tangled together as they rolled across the ground . Fists were aimed at the other person . Ian touched the shoulder of a child watching on the outside .
“Who…heok?”
The child’s face turned pale as he was faced with the rugged face of an orc . Ian asked quietly, “Why are they fighting?”
“That…Robin teased Ray and said that his dad had run away . ”
“Hmm…”
Ray was pretty tough . Even though it was an even fight, Ray soon overpowered Robin . He got on top of Robin and swung his fist . Robin covered his face with his arms . Ray’s fist hit the guard .
At this moment, Ian interrupted .
“Stop, stop . ”
The children separated like the how the Sea split for Moses after hearing the orc’s words . Ray also stopped moving .
“You shouldn’t fight . ”
Ian pulled them apart . Ray released Robin and started panting, while Robin stepped back with a nosebleed .
“If you say it one more time, then I’ll kill you,” Ray declared, his eyes filled with hate . That Robin **** hadn’t died .
“That’s right, your dad isn’t here right now . ”
“This bastard!”
Ian stopped Ray, who shook his head as he was grabbed by Ian .
“Mister! That asshole, look at what he is saying! I’ll kill him!”
Ian was stumped . When he was a child, he beat someone up for cursing at his family . Ian couldn’t say to not use violence because he understood Ray . In addition, this was Elder Lord, where fists were close to being the law, unlike in the real world . It wasn’t an ideal story . In the end, humans had to learn how to survive on their own in this world .
Ian just shook his head .
“It is done, so let’s stop here . You don’t want to fight anymore, do you?”
Ray was still enthusiastic, but Robin didn’t want to fight any longer . He wiped his **** nose with his sleeve . Ian dispersed the children .
He took Ray and started heading back home . Ian had raised Yiyu, but she didn’t experience this situation because she was a girl . She would just quarrel with her friends and then they would make up .
“Mister, I want to become stronger by learning the sword like you . ”
“Why?”
“If I get stronger, then I can kill those guys . ”
Ian chuckled in a low voice .
“Do you want to kill them?”
“Yes . ”
“Isn’t that too much?”
“I am angry . ”
“You can’t kill a person just because you don’t like them, Ray . ”
“……”
“There is always someone stronger than you . Then what if that person appears and kills a person you care about?”
“Then I will die fighting them, like a man . ”
Ian looked at Ray . Ray avoided his gaze as if he knew what Ian was thinking .
“That isn’t a manly thing to do . ”
“……”
“Ray . It is easy to speak about death . ”
Ian patted the head of the silent Ray . He seemed more suited to the world of Elder Lord . He received a secret killing technique from Baek Hanho and survived on the battlefield . These things had no place in the real world . He might run a cafe that made coffee, but he knew more about fighting and killing, life and death, than anyone else .
Ian scratched his head . His mind was complicated . At that time, some people appeared and surrounded Ian and Ray .
“Hello Orc, we meet again . ”
This face . It was one of Derek’s underlings who broke into Thompson’s house .
“That monster isn’t here this time, so won’t it be different?”
All of them were holding weapons . Their purpose was obvious, even to a blind man .
Ian placed Ray behind him and grabbed his sword handle . He measured their power . If they were his opponents, then he would be able to get away with Ray somehow .
But there was a man watching from the rear . A middle-aged man with a beard looked at Ian with a bored face . He wore expensive clothing and held a sword . An bright aura shone around the sharp blade .
“Are you a friend of Hoyt…?”
A low and hoarse voice emerged from the man . He stepped forward . A strong force was emitted from his whole body . Ian was nervous .
Strong . Clearly stronger than Ian .
“I am Derek, Young Man . ”
Ian gathered his strength as he listened . He had to hang in there . Looking at Derek’s nonchalant face, Ian felt like an egg before an approaching knife . His entire body was ready . Derek approached .
“The interest…I will have you pay for it with your body . ”